Government officials involved in fraud and corruption will be surcharged under the new provisions of the Audit Act, the National Audit Office said.

Accordingly, the surcharges will apply to officials found guilty of the two charges of causing loss to the government through fraud, corruption and discrepancies.

The Office is vested with powers to issue orders to the Chief Accounts Officer in this regard.

Accordingly, several government officials who should be surcharged have been identified.The officials can file appeals against the imposition of surcharges, and an Appeals Committee should be formed for this purpose.

However, the Constitutional Council has not appointed the committee so far and therefore, imposing surcharges has been delayed.